Refrigerating apparatus



May 13, 1930. w. WISHART 1,758,243

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 14, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 13, 1930. w. WISHART REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March s Sheets-Sheet 2,)

May 13, 1930. w. WISHART REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 14, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 v j CCCICZO/' Patented May 13, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TION CORPORATION, OF IBELOIT, WISCONSIN, A

CORPORATION OF DELAWARE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Application filed March 14, 1927. Serial No. 175,038.

This invention relates to a refrigerating apparatus and while its principles may be utilized in refrigerating apparatus desl 'ned for various purposes, my invention is illustrated herein as embodied in a refrigerating ap aratus of the household type.

ne of the primary purposes of my invention is to provide an apparatus in W ich the condenser, compressor, and evaporator are permanently connected together by a suitable piping into a unit which may be bodily removed from and replaced in a suitably constructed cabinet.

Another object is to provide an evaporator 5 of novel construction which will occupy a minimum of space in the cooling chamber and will afford a maximum area of exposed surface for the transference of heat units.

Another object of the invention is to so arrange the ice trays with relation to the evaporator that maximum cooling effect will be produced upon the trays so as to rapidly freeze the water contained therein.

Another object is to control the air circulation within the cooling chamber so that maximum cooling effect will result and also to so position "the various parts that an unobstructefl space of maximum dimensions for the reception of food products to be cooled will be left within the cooling chamber.

A further object is to provide a construction which will be sanitary and readily cleanable and with this end in view, the partition wall between the ice tray chamber and the cooling chamber is made removable so as to leave an unobstructed space, affording ready access for cleaning purposes.

Other objects and advantages of my invention should be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a refrigerating apparatus embodying my invention, certain portions being broken away to more clearly show the parts which would be otherwise obscured,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end elevation of the construction shown in Fig. 1, certain port1on s in this figure being also broken away,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary Few taken substantially on the line 3 3 of 1g. 1 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1 showing a modified form of my inven-- tion, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-6 of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail and particularly Figs. 1 to 3 thereof, refgerence character 6 indicates generally a re- /frigerating-cabinet, preferably of a size and proportions suitable for household use. The type of cabinet illustrated includes a center mullion 7 on opposite sides of which are disposed the ordinary swinging doors 8 and 9. If preferred, the space at one side of the vertical mullion 7 may be divided by a horizontal mullion 11, in which instance an additional lower door 12 is employed.

The space closed by the doors above described constitutes the cooling chamber of the cabinet, beneath which is formed the apparatus chamber 14.- heat insulated from the cooling chamber by suitable insulation 15 similar to thatemploycd in the outer walls of the cooling chamber. The partition wall between the cooling and apparatus chambers is provided adjacent to one side of the mullion 7 with a vertically extending slot 16 open at its front end as shown in the drawings, this slot being adapted to accommodate the pipes extending between the two chambers, as will be later explained.

The refrigerating apparatus proper comprises a motor driven air cooled compressor which is mounted within a cylindrical con-- denser 17, as shown in a copending applicac-fiOIl, Serial N 0. 81,177, filed January 14, 1926, although obviously other types of compressors and condensers might be employed, if preferred.

To facilitate air circulation through the apparatus chamber for cooling the motor, compressor and condenser, the side walls of the chamber are preferably provided with louvers 18, as illustrated in Fig. 1. A pipe 19 leading from the bottom ofthe condenser horizontal sectional is connected at its upper end with the evaporator 21 adaptedto be vertically disposed Within the cooling chamber. The evaporator provides a relativelly) thin vertically disposed evaporating cham er and is preferably formed of gations 22 at one side of the evaporator extending vertically while the corrugations in the other side 23 extend horizontally, thus providing not only a maximum of exposed heat conducting surface but also forming a construction which is self sustaining, strong, and rigid. An expansion valve may be employed between the condenser and the evaporator but in a flooded system, such as illustrated, an expansion valve is unnecessary.

In this instance, the return pipe 24 from the evaporator to the suction side of the compressor is connected with the evaporator at some point above the normal liquid level therein, and together with the pipe 23 assists in maintaining the evaporator in vertical position, the lower end of the evaporator resting upon suitable standards or brackets of any preferred construction (not shown).

The compressor, condenser, and evaporator connected b Y the pipes 19 and 24, form a unit which can e introduced into and removed from the refrigerating cabinet without disturbing the connections between the various elements. In order to insert the apparatus into the cabinet, the front wall of the apparatus chamber 14 being removed and the door 9 opened, the parts are slid into their respective chambers, the pipes 19 and 24 entering the open end of the slot 16. When inserted into the cabinet the evaporator 21 enters at the right side of the mullion 7, as will be apparent from Fig. 3 and when it has thus been introduced, the whole unit is moved laterally to the left, viewing this figure so,as to dispose the evaporator directly behind and in vertical alignment with the m'ullion, where it occupies a minimum of space and affords no obstruction to the introduction and removal of products to be stored in the cooling chamber. After the apparatus has been introduced into the cabinet, the slot 16 is preferably closed by a removable plug or closure member 25.

In order to insure downflow of the air, cooled by the evaporator, I have provided at each side of the evaporator a vertically disposed deflector plate. The deflector plate 26 is fixedly mounted within the cooling chamber so that when the evaporator is positioned in the chamber, as shown on the drawings, it is in proximity to this plate. The other deflector plate 27 on the opposite side of the evaporator may be attached to and carried by the evaporator so as to be removable therewith, or it may be detachably mounted in the cooling chamber so as to be removable therefrom to ermit the withdrawal and replacement of iihe evaporator.

a laterally projecting corrugated sheet metal, the corru Each of these deflector plates terminates at its lower end, remote from the bottom wall of the cooling chamber;i and is provided with as a guide and support for one end of a false bottom or shelf 29 which is similarly supported at its other end upon a bracket 31 fixed to the outer wall of the cooling chamber. The shelves 29 form the bottom of the cooling chamber proper and provide beneath them a substantially closed chamber adapted to accommodate the ice trays 32 which may be introduced into and withdrawn from the chamber when the doors are open. The cold air cooled by the evaporator is directed by the deflector plates 26 and 27 downwardly into the ice tray chamber where it abstracts heat from the water in the trays and results in the production of ice. A limited quantity of air is permitted to circulate through the chamber and escape at the outer ends thereof upwardly into the cooling chamber through openings 33 at the outer edge of the shelves 29, as best shown in Fig. 5. A limited quantity of the cold air is also permitted to flow (lirectly into the cooling chamber through the openings 34 provided in the deflector plates 26 and 27, near the lower ends thereof.

In order to prevent the escape of cold air from the ice tray chamber whenever the doors of the cooling chamber are opened, I prefer to provide auxiliary closures for the ice tray chambers in the form of aprons or flaps 35 hinged to the forward edges of the shelves 29, as indicated at 36 so as to form a front wall for the ice tray chamber and prevent the outflow of cold air therefrom, irrespective of whether the front floors of the cooling chamber are open or closed. It will be obvious that these aprons may be swung upwardly to permit access to the ice trays when desired.

ange 28 which serves 1 In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive the ice trays are supported upon a suitable base or support 37 resting upon the floor of the ice tray compartment. In this instance the cooling of the ice trays is effected solely by the cold air which is circulated downwardly into the chamber from the evaporator. In the modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5, however, lateral extensions of the evaporator are provided at the bottom thereof, which extensions consist of loops or coils 38 of pipe connected with the lower end of the evaporator so that these pipes are filled with the refrigerating medium. These lateral extensions provide a shelf or support upon which the ice trays are carried and, since evaporation of the refrigerating medium will take place in the coils as well as in the upright portion of the evaporator, heat units J the bottoms of the trays through the coils.

These coils therefore serve the dual purpose of supporting the trays and of cooling them as well as further cooling the air in the ice tra compartment.

t is believed that my invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood and appreciated from the foregoing-without further description and it should be manifest that the structural details illustrated and described are illustrated merely, and may be varied within wide limits without departing from the essence of my invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim: I, I

1. The combination with a refrigerating cabinet comprising a cooling chamber/the front wall of which-is formed by swinging .doors and a permanent mullion, an apparatus chamber beneath the cooling chamber, a

partition permanentaly separating said chambers, said partition being provided with a forwardlyopening slot at one side of said mullion, a refrigerating apparatus disposed in the apparatus chamber, anevaporator disposed in said coolin chamber behind and in alignment with sai mullion, and pipes'extending through said slot and permanently connecting saidapparatus and evaporator, said slot being of s'uflicient' width to ermit bodily lateral movement of the con enser,

. compressor, evaporator and pipes so as to disto be bodily with a forward direction.

' cabinet comprising a cooling chain supporting ice tra posethe evaporator at one side of themullion thereby permitting the apparatus as a unit awn from thecabinet in 2. The combination with a refrigerating er provided at its front side with a permanent vertically disposed mullion, a vertically disposed evaporator normally positioned rearwardly of and in alignment with said mullion,-.a

refrigerating apparatus, pipes permanently connecting said apparatus to said evaporator, a partition wall provided with a slot through which said pipes extendgsaid slot being of sufiicient width to permit 'odily lateral movement of the evaporator so as to dispose the 1 same at one side of said mullionthereby permitting the withdrawal of-said -'eva orator, condenser and compressor as a unit ward direction from said cabinet. a

n afor- 5. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a cooling chamber, a vertically disposed evaporator removably mounted therein, a deflector plate parallel with but spaced from said evaporator, a horizontally disposed movable shelf spaced from the bottom of said chamber to provide an ice tray chamber, means .for supporting ice trays therein, means for permitting an upflow of air from the ice tray chamber at points remote from said evapprator, and means for preventing the escape of air from the front of the ice tray chamber, said vertical deflector plate being provided above said shelfwith openings-through which a limited portion' of the air cooled by said evaporator may flow directly into'the cooling chamber above the ice tray chamber.

6. In a refrigerating. apparatus, the combination of a cooling chamber, a vertically disposed evaporator therein, icetrays disposed laterallyof said evaporator, means for deflecting the air'cooled by said evaporator into contact with said trays, and means for confining said cooled air into proximity with said trays.

In witness of theforegoing I afiix my signature.

wIsHARi.

3.' In a refrigerating apparatus, thecom ,bination of a cooling chamber, a centrally positioned vertically disposed evaporator positioned within said chamber,'-means for in the bottom of said chamber at each si e of said evaporator, vertically extending deflector plates positioned atopposite sides of said evaporator to insure a down flow of the air cooled by the evaporator, and false bottoms for the cooling chambers at each side of said evaporator spaced above said ice trays to confine the cooled air to the vicinityof said trays.

4. In a refrigerating apparatus, the com- 

